Work piling up for school nurses

Published: October 23, 2000 12:00 AM

Like many things in public schools, nursing is not what it used to be. Remember Scoliosis screening, lice checks and upset stomachs?

How about training for calling a code if a student needs an emergency glucose injection? How about treating students with depression, eating disorders, tumors, asthma or Cerebral Palsy?

The work was piling up around Heidi Steiner's desk, and she was frustrated. Immunization records, medical emergency contacts, health cards with updated physicals and screening information. Providing care for students with special needs, who have been mainstreamed into public school classrooms. And still finding time to talk to a kid long enough to know his upset stomach is because his parents are fighting.

Steiner went to the administration and pleaded her case. For a very long time, the district has employed two full-time school nurses who are shared among the buildings. The time had come, Steiner said, for not only a third nurse, but clerical help as well.

The school board, at its Thursday night meeting, approved a third full-time nurse and part-time medical records secretary for the remainder of the school year. In March, the positions will be put to the district's budget task force, where they will be prioritized along with all the other needs in the school system, and considered for permanent placements.

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"We're two people for 2,500 students, and we can't be everywhere. Twenty years ago there were things we would never have seen in public schools, and now we see them every day. Ask any teacher what breakfast, alone, has on performance, and you begin to understand," said Steiner, who is president of the Ohio School Nurses Association.

With a clear passion for what she does, Steiner's voice broke as she spoke to the school board about needs of children in the district. "I invite all of you to spend a day in my clinic; you learn what's really going on with a child -- tooth decay, living in a car because a family was evicted, no access to health care. We spend a lot of time doing home visits with families. Not a day goes by when we don't hear about simple things like headaches that turn out to be much larger concerns," Steiner said.

Because of government mandates, public school districts must also provide for children with special education and special medical needs. Districts have two options -- provide the services themselves, or send the students to a district that does. Wooster feels the hit on both sides of the coin. The district does provide a wide range of pupil services, and because many other districts in the area cannot afford the services, Wooster becomes a home for those students.

School Board member Bonnie Drushal said Thursday it is not just the school district providing special services to students. "People move here, not just because of the educational services they can receive, but also because of the city-wide social services. If we don't provide (educational services), we just have to pay for those kids to go someplace else. It makes sense to keep them in our district," Drushal said.

Steiner agreed. Service clubs like the Lions paying for glasses and Quota Club paying for hearing aids, along with companies like Wal-Mart which provides free eye appointments and glasses, all help to make this a world-class community, Steiner said.

Right now, Steiner starts her day at Edgewood and spends different afternoons in different elementary schools. "Thursday, I started my day with two goals -- in the morning I wanted to get my immunization records done. In the afternoon, we screened seven classrooms of kids from 12 to 3:30. The morning goal didn't get done. We had 13 kids in the clinic in the morning, and that was a quiet day. I was called in to collaborate with teachers about a student, and a parent came in with information about a new medication their child was taking," Steiner said.

Superintendent David Estrop supported the decision for the additional hires. "It's very apparent that a lot of their time is tied up in clerical jobs that could easily be done by a secretary with training -- following up with parents, turning in forms. I don't think, with the current staff level we have, we can meet those needs," he said.

The third nurse would likely be stationed at Cornerstone Elementary, since it's the third largest building in the district, Estrop said. Assignments of the current nurses will be realigned accordingly, he added. The two positions will be paid for from General Fund contingency money and reimbursements from Medicaid.